INTESTINAL ANASTOMOSIS HEALING IN RAT - COLLAGEN CONCENTRATION AND HISTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION BY PICROSIRIUS RED STAINING AND POLARIZING MICROSCOPY

The study was designed to characterize collagen fibers in the healing intestinal anastomosis of rat by examining collagen concentration and recording the polarization colors of the collagen fibers in Picrosiriu s red-stained tissue sections. No significant changes in collagen conc entration expressed by hydroxyproline content were noted at the anasto motic site at various postoperative time points. In the normal intesti ne, the predominant polarization colors were in the yellow to yellow-o range range, signifying tightly packed, matured collagen. During the f irst postoperative week, collagen fibers at the anastomotic region exh ibited mainly polarization colors in the green to green-yellow range, implying less packed intermediate collagen fibers. After 2 weeks, coll agen fibers at the anastomotic region gradually reacquired their preop erative polarizing texture. These findings strongly suggest that the ' 'quality'' rather than the quantity of collagen fibers plays an import ant role in maintaining the tensile strength of the healing intestinal anastomosis. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.